This happens too often - an employee suddenly starts acting weird and showing signs of unhappiness. I am going to put in my ways of dealing with this and I would like other members to put in theirs.
This is usually the first sign of an employee going astray from his/her responsibilities and eventually shifting to another organization in hope that it'll help change the way he/she is feeling.
The main reasons I feel this happens:
1) Over worked employees.
2) Under-appreciated employees
3) Lack of challenges.
4) Less interaction/feedback from superiors.
While we can't do much about the work load - if there's a lot of work there's a lot work - and we can't artificially create challenges for the employee - most will be too absurd and will seem phony. We can however change the way we interact with our employees.
While it is crucial to NOT become familiar with your employees it's very important to have a dialogue with them if you want to be a good leader. A dialogue will help create a sense of belonging and purpose and that is the best approach in keeping an employee happy.
Here are a few things I do to help ease the unhappiness:
* Speak to the employee directly and ask them what is wrong - why he/she seems distant and bothered. They will most probably say there's nothing wrong - if they do come out with an issue - don't victimize them for speaking up - don't promise them action - but rather discuss why the problem is occurring - and if it's something that you can do nothing about - try to elaborate on why the situation exists.
* The next day - start up another casual interaction with the employee - direct the conversation towards the employee's past experiences - in other jobs or in other positions. They will most likely describe problems they had - don't discuss the problems but rather encourage them to elaborate on how they landed up in your organization.
* Cease conversation on such topics and talk mainly about work and problems that need to be solved. This will create the sense of challenge and the focus will be shifted to the employee's responsibilities in the organization.
This is how I deal with such employees - and it has worked fairly well in almost all cases.
Do put in your opinions and ideas about how to deal with such situations.
This is usually the first sign of an employee going astray from his/her responsibilities and eventually shifting to another organization in hope that it'll help change the way he/she is feeling.
The main reasons I feel this happens:
1) Over worked employees.
2) Under-appreciated employees
3) Lack of challenges.
4) Less interaction/feedback from superiors.
While we can't do much about the work load - if there's a lot of work there's a lot work - and we can't artificially create challenges for the employee - most will be too absurd and will seem phony. We can however change the way we interact with our employees.
While it is crucial to NOT become familiar with your employees it's very important to have a dialogue with them if you want to be a good leader. A dialogue will help create a sense of belonging and purpose and that is the best approach in keeping an employee happy.
Here are a few things I do to help ease the unhappiness:
* Speak to the employee directly and ask them what is wrong - why he/she seems distant and bothered. They will most probably say there's nothing wrong - if they do come out with an issue - don't victimize them for speaking up - don't promise them action - but rather discuss why the problem is occurring - and if it's something that you can do nothing about - try to elaborate on why the situation exists.
* The next day - start up another casual interaction with the employee - direct the conversation towards the employee's past experiences - in other jobs or in other positions. They will most likely describe problems they had - don't discuss the problems but rather encourage them to elaborate on how they landed up in your organization.
* Cease conversation on such topics and talk mainly about work and problems that need to be solved. This will create the sense of challenge and the focus will be shifted to the employee's responsibilities in the organization.
This is how I deal with such employees - and it has worked fairly well in almost all cases.
Do put in your opinions and ideas about how to deal with such situations.